Electronic writing tablets have become very common, especially those adapted for use as signature tablets. A problem arises with the use of such electronic writing tablets because their writing surfaces are vulnerable to being scratched, accidentally written on by an inking pen, or otherwise damaged, and the cost of replacing such writing surfaces can be a significant factor in the overall life-cycle cost of the product.
Attempts have been made to protect the writing surface of an electronic writing tablet with a transparent overlay. Unfortunately however, such transparent overlay tends to mask the image that is shown on the surface beneath the protective overlay, or on an underlaid pixel-driven LCD display that corresponds to the writing on the writing surface, making it difficult to read. This is especially true with the passage of time. In addition, underlaid pixel-driven LCD displays which show the written image inherently display a lower-resolution than the actual writing and can exhibit mis-registration between the pen tip and the displayed ink dots, thus making the use of the product less like true ink-on-paper.
Accordingly, there is a need for a device which protects the writing surfaces of an electronic writing tablet without masking the written image, while at the same time providing a higher resolution image of the writing and providing excellent pen to image registration.